Rutile is a fairly common mineral though rarely found in large crystals. The red-brown colour is usually due to impurities of iron.
This specimen is from a small batch collected around 20 years ago from Diamantina in the famous Minas Gerais mining district of Brazil. The crystals are highly lustrous, forming groups of twinned crystals.
A magnifying lens or preferably a binocular microscope is required to best appreciate these small crystals. An excellent specimen for the macro/micro photography enthusiast.
